


Vintage Steele - Redux

by NorahBolt56



Category: Remington Steele (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:07:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23168230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorahBolt56/pseuds/NorahBolt56
Summary: In this piece, I've reworked another ep on the premise that Laura and Mr Steele had a one night stand when they initially met (this follows on from my previous Licence to Steele - Redux and Tempered Steele - Redux fics).
Relationships: Laura Holt/Remington Steele
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

_Laura couldn’t believe it – she’d done it again, even after she’d vowed not to. She guessed she could blame the wine, or having Wilson reappear in her life, but she knew deep down that neither of those things were to blame – it was ‘wild Laura’ that had got her into trouble. She couldn’t even blame *him* she thought as she looked at him as he slept blissfully next to her. She had initiated it, just like she’d initiated the kiss in the monastery wine cellar. Something had been stirred in her these last few days they’d spent in ‘wine country’ and it wasn’t just her passion or her wild side that she’d previously tried to keep hidden. Maybe it was the way he’d looked at her after overhearing her conversation with Wilson – the concern she had seen in his eyes had touched her deeply. Or maybe it was the fact that he welcomed her wild side and was attracted to it, unlike Wilson who had been intimidated and put off by it. But whatever it was, it had led her here – to his bed, to a night of unbridled passion just like they’d shared the first night after they’d met._

_Laura sighed as she ran a hand through her hair thinking to herself, “Now what?”. As she watched him sleep though, she couldn’t help memories of the previous night from flooding back to her, as well as that kiss in the wine cellar. He had aroused her more with just that one kiss than Wilson had ever done, even when they’d made love. Wilson approached sex like he approached everything in his life – with a methodical, no-nonsense approach that while mostly satisfactory she guessed, was hardly earth shattering. ‘Mr Steele’ on the other hand made her feel things she’d never felt before and his sensual repertoire left her yearning for more. Just the slightest touch left her trembling and boy did that man know how to kiss, amongst other things, she thought to herself as she couldn’t help the hint of a dimpled grin crossing her face._

_But that was last night, she tried to convince herself. Now in the cold reality of day things were different – they’d made an agreement, which they’d both conveniently forgotten last night, so where did that leave them, both personally & professionally?_

_“Oh how did I let this happen? Again,” Laura thought to herself as she rubbed her head in consternation, the events of the past few days coming back to her as she did so…_


	2. Chapter 2

It had all started a few days ago when she’d walked into the office, never expecting what or rather who was waiting for her. In response to her cheery, “Good morning,” as she picked up the mail from Bernice’s desk, Bernice greeted her with, ”That might be a little rash,” immediately putting her on guard, as she wondered what on earth ‘Mr Steele’ had done now.

"How's that?" Laura asked in a worried tone.

"I can't fight him any more Laura. If he gets here before you do and grabs hold of a client, I won't be held responsible," Bernice replied as she gave her a knowing look. With that a look of panic crossed Laura’s face as she dropped the mail and rushed into Mr Steele’s office.

*********************************  
Meanwhile, Remington was trying to deal with the fellow he’d found waiting for Laura when he’d arrived at the agency shortly beforehand. Despite Miss Wolf’s protests, he had ushered the earnest looking man into his office, confident he could deal with whatever his potential case was. But he was quickly finding out that this case was rather unusual to say the least. Not to mention the fact that this Wilson Jefferies chap seemed to know Laura - a former client perhaps, he wondered?

As he showed him into his office he caught a whiff of the aroma coming from Jefferies’ suit. "That wouldn't be a cabernet you're wearing by any chance Jefferies?" he asked curiously.

"One of the best," Wilson replied with a rueful look. "I don't know quite how to say this Mr Steele but I ..I'm a banker," he tried to explain.

"A banker?" Remington repeated, wondering what his deal was and why on earth did he smell like a fine wine??

"Executive vice-president of Mutual Guarantee." Wilson continued. "Manager of Corporate Finances."

He then looked at Remington and asked with some concern, "How is she?"

"She?" Remington asked, puzzled.

"Miss Holt," Wilson replied.

"Oh, Miss Holt, she's fine, fine, but um…as for your banking .." Remington stated in an effort to get back to the business at hand.

"It was my proposal to diversify - finance the winery," Wilson explained as Remington nodded, still none the wiser as to what he was getting at.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe that banking in itself is cause for investigation unless of course ... " Remington gestured with a questioning look, wondering if he was somehow involved in some sort of fraudulent activity?

Wilson then sat down, looking as if he was in shock then rattled off, "I did it. I can't believe I did. But I did it."

He suddenly got up from the chair again, looking quite agitated. "You did say Miss Holt was coming in soon?"

"Oh, yes, yes, yes. A brief traffic delay at worst," Remington assured him, then added as he looked at Wilson, trying to figure out his problem before Laura got there so he could show her he had what it took to be a detective. "But um, anyone can appreciate your dilemma. I mean, faced with the prospect of a vast financing, a banker, um, any banker might yield to the impulse and ah ..." he mused aloud, leaving his statement open as he hoped Wilson would confirm his line of thinking was correct.

"Steal a body?" Wilson put in, which was not what Remington had been expecting at all.

"You stole a body?" he asked incredulously as Wilson sat down again and replied, "I don't know what came over me."

Just then Laura walked into the office, ready to rescue the situation with a potential client once again "Excuse me for being late but ..." she started to say automatically then stopped short when the man sitting there talking to Mr Steele turned around and she saw who it was. Wilson Jefferies – the man who broke her heart. Once he’d left her she’d never thought she’d see him again - let alone here at the agency of all places.

"Oh my God!” she exclaimed in shock then turned and walked quickly out of the office again.

"That was Miss Holt just now. Would you excuse me?" Remington stated, somewhat puzzled and more than a little annoyed at her reaction as he followed her out of his office, to find her leaning against a wall, a look of total disbelief on her face as she muttered to herself, "I don't believe it."

What was he doing here? Now? Now that she was finally getting her life together – a successful career, a home of her own and not to mention another man in her life , well in some shape or form at any rate – they were still in the process of figuring out exactly what they were to each other. Another man who was the exact opposite of Wilson. Suddenly a flood of memories came unbidden into her head which she thought she’d manage to bury - obviously not far enough down, she thought a little wryly. Their last argument in particular – just before he’d left her, when he’d accused her of being too wild and unpredictable and told her in no uncertain terms that it was never going to work between them. He had ripped open the gaping hole in her heart which hadn’t yet healed from her father leaving her years before, and had left her feeling afraid to love, lest she be left yet again.

"Well, it's not as if it's the first time I've seen a client before you did. I mean, don't you think you're overreacting just a touch?" Remington said as he came up to her but Laura looked as if she hadn’t heard him and instead she stormed past him back into his office. If Wilson thought he could just come in here and disrupt her life all over again he had another thing coming, she thought furiously to herself.

Meanwhile Remington continued talking as he followed her back into his office, “I mean, we're supposed to be professionals and..," but he stopped short as he took in the scene in front of him – Laura and this Jefferies fellow standing facing each other, Laura with an irate look on her face and Jefferies with an apologetic, almost fearful look on his.

"What are you doing here?" Laura demanded of her ex-boyfriend.

"Laura, I had no idea this was going to happen," Wilson went to explain as Remington observed their exchange, wondering who on earth he was to Laura, as they obviously knew each other but she didn’t look very happy to see him at all.

"Haven't I heard that from you before?" Laura threw at Wilson sarcastically.

"I take it you two have already met?" Remington asked but both Laura and Wilson ignored him.

"Laura, I have to talk to you,” Wilson pleaded with her.

"Prior case no doubt," Remington continued but neither Laura or Wilson heard him, or if they did, they didn’t acknowledge him as they were solely focused on each other.

"I don't think this is the place for that,” Laura shot back at Wilson, her tone and demeanour frosty.

"A friend of the family?" Remington persisted to no avail.

"It can't wait," Wilson insisted, starting to get a little desperate.

"Wilson, I work here!" Laura snapped. The last thing she wanted was her dirty laundry aired before her fictitious boss. She was always at him about his past, which he was so cagey about, so the last thing she needed was him finding out about this part of her past. A part she would have preferred to forget.

"A cousin perhaps?" Remington asked hopefully as he was starting to get the distinct impression that Miss Holt and this fellow had had a relationship. To his surprise, he found himself feeling a bit jealous at that thought – he knew he had no claim on her and that she had every right to have a past, just as he did. But after the incredible night they had spent together when they first met when he’d had a taste of the delectable Miss Holt he had been left craving more. And the more time he spent with her, the stronger his feelings were becoming, so the thought of her with another man irked him no end. And that was certainly a new feeling for him.

As if she was finally hearing him, Laura then glared at Mr Steele. Having him here certainly wasn’t helping things – having her ex and her current lovers (well not exactly, she thought to herself a little ruefully, remembering the agreement they’d come to as part of their professional arrangement,after sleeping together just after they’d met) in the same room, at the same time was rather disconcerting to say the least.

"Skiing instructor?" Remington offered as another possibility, his expression pleading with her for an explanation.

"I had no choice Laura," Wilson continued in an effort to explain his turning up there.

"Why?" she retorted in frustration.

"Because he stole a body," Remington interjected as he pointed at Wilson, which left Laura totally confused.

"You stole a body?" she threw at Wilson, her tone incredulous.

"Well, I took a body, I mean.. I have a body," he stammered uncomfortably under the intensity of her furious gaze.

"What do you mean you have a body?" Laura exploded, losing her patience and temper at the same time. What on earth was he going on about? she thought to herself as he wasn’t making any sense and this was getting ridiculous. It was bad enough that he was here but he was just wasting her time with this nonsense. "We all have a body Wilson!" she threw at him.

"Mine’s in the trunk of the car!” Wilson retorted as both Laura and Mr Steele looked at him in shocked confusion.

*****

Laura and Remington then followed Wilson out to the parking lot.

"Look at me – my suit. I'm falling apart. You can't imagine what's it's like lifting a body from a vat of wine,” Wilson moaned as he led them to his car.

"Hmm. I'm sure the bouquet is overwhelming," Remington quipped in response, then thinking he should perhaps lend the poor fellow some clothes that didn’t reek of Cabernet he asked, "What size are you?"

"Thirty-eight, regular," Laura rattled off automatically, taking both men by surprise at they stopped and looked at her, Remington wondering how she knew that and Wilson surprised she still remembered.

And then it dawned on Remington – this was the guy she had lived with. "You mean to tell me .." he went to ask.

"White belts, t-shirts that say, 'Bankers do it with interest'," Laura confirmed with a wry expression on her face, remembering when he had first learnt she had lived with a man and still had some of his clothes. The other man who was standing right in front of her in fact.

Remington looked at her, totally stunned, as did Wilson. "You still have those clothes of mine?" he asked.

"You lived together? I assumed you had some history but ..", Remington asked, still not quite believing it. This Wilson fellow certainly didn’t look like her type, he thought to himself as a little voice in his head said, ‘And what exactly is her type? You, sport?’. Truth was he didn’t really know what her ‘type’ was or if she even had a type of man she was usually attracted to. But a stuffy, strait-laced banker?? It beggared belief!

"It's ancient history now," Laura stated between gritted teeth as she glared at Wilson.

Avoiding her glare, Wilson went to the trunk of his car then hesitated for a moment.

"All right, we're here. Let's see it,” Laura said impatiently.

"Brace yourself, it's not an easy thing .." Wilson tried to warn her but Laura had run out of patience.

"Open it!" she demanded as Wilson did as he was told. Remington and Laura looked in to find the trunk empty. In reply to their questioning looks Wilson exclaimed despairingly, “Oh no! No, he was right there! I swear it. Someone must have taken him."

"From a moving car? That hardly seems likely," Laura replied sceptically, wondering what he was playing at.

As she walked to the front of the car, Remington followed her and suggested, “Ah, perhaps in light of the personal nature of this affair, we should refer Wilson to another agency."

"There is nothing personal going on here - I am over it!” Laura retorted adamantly.

"All right," Remington replied, not quite believing her but knowing better than to argue with her when she was in such a foul mood. He had to admit, he was glad her ire wasn’t directed at him for a change.

"Completely," she added emphatically, as much to convince him as herself.

Laura then turned to Wilson, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt – after all, he was hardly one for flights of fancy. "All right Wilson. We're both adults, we're both professionals, and if you insist that there was a body in that trunk, then I think the thing to do is to proceed with a series of strictly professional questions,” she stated, her tone suddenly businesslike as she tried to keep her emotions in check. "On the way from the winery, did you stop anywhere?"

"No,” Wilson replied then remembering, corrected himself. “Yes – once. I had to," he explained, his expression awkward as Remington realised what he was referring to.

Typical, Laura thought to herself, remembering several road trips with Wilson when they had to make frequent ‘pit stops’ – obviously the man still had the bladder of a gnat!

"Where?" she demanded.

“Well I’m not sure if I can remember exactly..” Wilson went to reply but stopped when Laura rolled her eyes at him, an expression he knew all too well.

“Come on!” she said to him and Remington as she headed off towards the Rabbit, the two men following behind her, neither of them daring to argue …


	3. Chapter 3

With Laura driving it didn’t take them long to reach ‘wine county’. As she drove along with Wilson next to her in the passenger seat and Mr Steele in the back, she couldn’t stop her mind going over her past with Wilson, which she reflected, was probably the reason for her overly enthusiastic driving.

She’d been at Havenhurst for about a year she remembered when she’d met him – she was twenty-three and full of hopes and dreams. Hopes of making a name for herself in a man’s world so she could be independent and not have to rely on a man for her livelihood. The last thing she wanted was to end up like her mother- totally dependent on a man, only to have her world turned upside down when he left her. And she had to admit, she also had dreams of finding ‘the one’ like so many of her friends seemed to have done. But she wanted someone she could really call her partner – who would support her and be there for her and not be threatened by her strength and independence.

Wilson worked with one of her friend’s boyfriends. Her friend had told her about this guy Wilson her boyfriend Brad worked with at the bank, and finally Laura had given in to her nagging to go on a double date. She had to admit there wasn’t that much of spark initially – oh he was nice enough, not bad looking even though he was a little on the short side, had a good job and a promising future. All the things her mother was always harping on at her to look for in a prospective partner. That in itself should have sent her running for the hills, she reflected with the benefit of hindsight, as she gripped the steering wheel even harder.

After their initial meeting they started dating and she had to admit, her somewhat naïve, younger self had fallen for him as he had for her, or so she thought. After a while her mother started nagging her about where their relationship was going etc etc, reminding her for the hundredth time that by the time she was her age, her sister Frances was married with a child and another on the way. So much to her mother’s chagrin, Laura suggested to Wilson that they move in together. Not that she had ruled out marriage and children, but that was way off in the future she had thought to herself – she wanted to focus on her career for the time being and one day open her own agency.

At first things had been good but over time cracks started to appear – dating someone was one thing, but you didn’t really know them until you lived with them after all. Wilson was fastidiously neat and clean, insisting on making the bed with hospital corners and the like, while Laura, whilst hardly a slob, was often more interested in messing up the sheets rather than making them. At first Wilson seemed as keen as her to do just that, but as time went on more and more it seemed he was too tired or had an early meeting or whatever. Laura’s frustration only added to their bickering and growing differences – her impulsiveness and love of spontaneity & excitement grated against his need for order and predictability.

And if Laura had been honest with herself at the time, she knew she was never going to be a typical ‘banker’s wife’ – when she accompanied Wilson to work functions she always found herself struggling to find anything in common with the other employees’ wives & girlfriends. And then there was what had happened when she accompanied him to a convention in Acapulco – a time she would have rather forgotten, for a number of reasons. They had returned to Los Angeles after that only to have Wilson promptly pack his bags and leave her. Though she knew deep down he wasn’t the right man for her, she was still devastated, blaming herself for it not working out between them, and leaving her with even more self doubt and a fervent fear of risking her heart again.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts and memories of the man sitting in the car next to her that she barely noticed the monks they passed who were busy tending vines, as they got closer to the Vandermeer estate. And she had almost forgotten Mr Steele was also in the car with them until he remarked as he admired the scenery around them, “Ah wine country. Warm, friendly, inviting."  
  
Reverting to her ‘comfort zone’ in an effort to control they myriad of emotions she was feeling, Laura then decided to question Wilson more about the body. "Can you describe this body?"  
  
"Well, it was heavy," Wilson stated as Laura shot him an annoyed look – that description wasn’t really helpful. "I really didn't look that closely. Slow down, I think this is it," Wilson told her as he looked around.

Laura stopped the car as they all hopped out. "You stopped here?" Laura asked a little increduously.  
  
"Well, there was.. there was so much wine at the press conference, I didn't know when I'd find a gas station," Wilson tried to explain.  
  
"You mean you needed to uh..," Remington gestured as Wilson nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Yeah, by that tree over there. Or maybe it was that tree over there. I don't know, it was so dark I can't tell now. But I was only there for a minute or two,” Wilson stated a little uncomfortably.  
  
"You didn't hear or see anything?" Laura asked him expectantly.  
  
"Sure I did. I heard Harcourt tear up a year's worth of work in ten seconds. I heard the Board kick me out of the bank. I heard my whole life coming down around my ears! I saw that body in the vat and suddenly I thought to myself, 'What would Laura do about this?” he tried to explain himself but the less than impressed expression on Laura’s face told both Wilson and Mr Steele that he had failed miserably.  
  
"So, you stuffedhim in the trunk of the car and ran away with it?!” Laura threw at him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 

  
Remington looked at the other man with a mixture of surprise and curiosity – these little snippets of conversation that he was picking up on here and there, were giving him some very interesting insights into the ever intriguing Miss Holt. "Are you talking about this Laura here?" he asked Wilson, as the hint of a grin crossed his face, keen to learn more.  
  
Wilson however ignored him, his focus instead on his ex-girlfriend. "The loan is set to go through in less than forty-eight hours. There were reporters all over the place. I had to do something!" he tried to defend his actions, his voice rising a little with panic.  
  
"All right," Laura relented a little, a she inspected the area for any possible clues. "There are signs here of truck treads, maybe some..ah..rubber boots, a few horse shoe impressions - but in this area none of those is unusual."  
  
"Well, in that case I think we should proceed to the winery and inspect the original source of umm ... the problem," Remington suggested as Laura nodded in agreement.

Any further conversation was then halted by a middle age woman approaching them on a horse which suddenly reared up and threw her to the ground, as the three of them raced to her side to help her up. Instead of being grateful however, after furiously reprimanding the horse, the woman then turned on them, angrily asking what they were doing there and demanding they move the car.

Laura however, who was already in an argumentative mood, was not going to take that lying down.  
  
"This is a public road you know," she pointed out as she stepped forward, Wilson moving to stop her from causing a scene, knowing from firsthand experience how her temper sometimes got the better of her.

"Not when it runs through my land it isn't," the woman retorted then she turned back to the horse, "Don't you move from that spot, Arnold. You hear me?"  
  


"What an engaging attitude,” Remington commented.  
  
"Hers?" Wilson asked in disbelief.  
  
"Arnold's," Remington quipped, in reference to the horse.  
  
"Wonderful wine country huh?" Laura commented wryly as she rolled her eyes at him.  
  
"Well..," he shrugged in reply, not knowing what else to say, as they headed back to the car.  
  
"There’s a number of private vintner estates in the area Laura, so, with the way you drive..,." Wilson commented, giving her a knowing look as the three of them got back into the Rabbit.  
  
"What's wrong with her driving anyway?" Remington asked quizzically from his perch in the back seat, only to have his question answered when Laura put the car in gear and floored it, tumbling him roughly back into the seat.  
  
*****  
Laura continued to drive hard and fast before screeching to a stop at the entrance to 'Claude Vandermeer Vineyards'. Remington slowly sat up and commented to Laura, his voice a bit shaky, "Well, you certainly taught that road a lesson it won't soon forget," marvelling a little that he was still in one piece, after what had felt like taking part in a rally driving course rather than a leisurely drive down a country road.  
  
"No sense in dragging this thing out," Laura snapped as she glared at Wilson. After his little jibe about her driving she had decided it was time for a bit of payback. And having him and Mr Steele both here at the same time had really upset her equilibrium – her past and her present had come colliding together and the sooner that situation was rectified the better as far as she was concerned.

As Laura headed into the winery, Remington held Wilson back for a moment. "Ah, if you don't mind my asking Wilson, um..when you and Miss Holt were ... ah, um..," he asked, searching for the right words to describe a situation that didn’t sit well with him at well – Laura living with another man.  
  
"Co-habitating?" Wilson filled in for him as Remington nodded somewhat uncomfortably.  
  
"Yes, ah .. was her driving always so ah.. exuberant?"  
  
A slightly nostalgic look crossed Wilson’s face before he answered. "If anything, it's gotten a little better. But I'm sure you know how she is. Impulsive, uninhibited, absurdly passionate. It must get trying for you at times, keeping her in check?"  
  
"Oh well, I do what I can," Remington stated, keeping up the charade of being her boss, as he pondered Wilson’s response. As Wilson followed Laura inside, Remington raised his eyebrows and repeated, "Absurdly passionate, eh?". That was hardly how he would describe her – wonderfully, arousingly passionate would be a more fitting description he felt, remembering back to that amazing night they had spent together when they had first met. The night he had caught a glimpse of a passionate, uninhibited side to her that she had taken pains to keep hidden since then, much to his frustration. What a bloody fool this Wilson chap must have been to let her go, he thought to himself, although he had to admit for purely selfish reasons, that he was glad he had. He just hoped his reappearance in Laura’s life didn’t also mean he was going to try and get her back…  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Once they were all inside the winery, Claude Vandermeer rushed up to them. "Wilson, thank God. I was so worried about you when you disappeared last night without a word," he stated worriedly.  
  
"Something sort of came up suddenly," Wilson replied, looking decidedly uncomfortable.  
  
"I guess waiting for final approval on the loan has us all a bit strained," Claude agreed.  
  
"Well, Wilson was so excited about something in your wine he insistedwe come up and have a look," Laura put in as she shot a look at Wilson.  
  
"Forgive me, Claude Vandermeer, this is Miss Holt and.." Wilson went to introduce them but didn’t know how to introduce Mr Steele, in case Claude had heard of the well known detective.  
  
Mr Steele however came to his rescue as he interjected in a posh voice, introducing himself as, ”Lindsey-Woolsey, Nigel Lindsey-Woolsey. Wilson asked us not to say anything but I'm preparing the definitive text on California wines. Miss Holt is my assistant and if the reports can be trusted we might do a feature on your cabernet. Mind if we have a look around?"  
  
"For a feature write-up I'll personally give you a grand tour," Claude replied enthusiastically as he looked gratefully at Wilson. "Wilson, you clever dog you, when you grab something, you run with it all the way."  
  
Wilson laughed nervously in reply and followed Claude as Laura muttered somewhat bitterly in agreement, "Just as far and as fast as he can," as she and Remington followed them. Remington looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, detecting the note of bitterness in her voice and realizing the pain her breakup with Wilson must have caused her, and to a certain extent, still did. He didn’t want to pry, after all that was her business and he himself was very reticient to tell her anything about his past, but part of him felt that knowing more about what had happened between them would help him to understand her more and her stubborn refusal to resume a more personal relationship with him.

  
As they followed Claude and Wilson around the wine making machinery, Remington turned to Laura and asked her, "Laura, in your experience, would you say Wilson sees things from an unusual perspective?"  
  
"I don't know anymore what he sees - why?" Laura replied a little shortly.  
  
"Well, he claims to take a body from a vat of wine which then, ah.. mysteriously disappears," Remington pointed out.  
  
"You don't believe him?" Laura asked, wondering if he could be right, but knowing Wilson as she did she found it unlikely he had been mistaken.   
  
"No, no, it's not that but with all the stress from this business loan, the man he found might have been merely intoxicated,” Remington speculated.  
  
Meanwhile Claude continued his explanation of his wine making process, "But I sweat out every inch of the process. So that I know when I press this button all the months of careful fermentation,..,” whilst behind Claude and Wilson a hand dropped from the moving conveyer belt,"... the endless checking and blending and sampling has produced the most extraordinary vintage ..." Claude went on, oblivious to what had just happened.  
  
Meanwhile Laura and Remington stood at the end of the conveyer belt, Laura responding to his theory that Wilson had been mistaken about there being a dead body. "Wilson has made a career out of being accurate and specific. If he said it was a body, there's a better than even chance .." she went to reply then suddenly stopped as the body rolled down the conveyer belt and came to a stop in front of them, taking them all by surprise.  
  
Claude rushed over to the conveyor belt and exclaimed in a panicked voice, "What the hell was that?”, a look of horror crossing his face as he stared in disbelief at the body.

Wilson followed Claude then looking at Laura stated, "The body".  
  
Claude looked at him in astonishment. "What?" he demanded.  
  
Remington and Laura replied in unison, "The body."

"Who..who is it?" Claude asked, seemingly bewildered.  
  
"You don't recognize him?" Laura asked.  
  
"Oh it's the same one all right," Wilson confirmed.  
  
"You recognize him?" Claude asked with concern.  
  
"Oh just from the trunk of my car but how did he get back here?" Wilson wondered.  
  
" _Back_ here?" Claude asked, wondering what on earth was going on.  
  
Inspecting the body for a possible cause of death, Remington remarked, "It appears to be a blow to the back of the head."  
  
"Enough to make him drown in a vat?" Laura pondered.  
  
"Hmm, that would be my professional opinion," Remington replied, only to be rewarded by Laura sharply stepping on his foot in an effort to shut him up before he blew their cover.  
  
"What vat? What opinion? Since when does a wine writer have professional opinions about bodies? Wilson, what in God's name is happening here?" Claude demanded with a combination of confusion and panic.  
  
"I would like to be more specific with you about that Claude but as for the moment .." Wilson tried desperately to explain, only to be interrupted by an officious sounding voice calling out, "Jefferies, you back there?"  
  
Wilson suddenly froze. "Oh no. It's Harcourt. That means Westfield. The whole Board is here!"  
  
"I was expecting them sometime today but, oh no!" Claude put in.  
  
"Jefferies!" Harcourt’s voice boomed as he got closer to them.  
  
Wilson looked pleadingly at Laura "Help me!"

Laura looked around, thinking quickly. "Give me as much time as you can," she stated as she waved Wilson on, "Go on, go on."  
  
Meanwhile Remington pointed at the body saying, "Intriguing problem, eh?" as Laura tried not to roll her eyes at him.  
  
*********************************  
  
"Well then, perhaps you gentlemen would like to start with some wine," Wilson suggested as he led the bank board members away from where he had left Laura and Steele with the body.  
  
"Wine? Perhaps later. Just now, we're anxious to have a look at what we're buying into. What's this way?" Harcourt asked as he turned and headed off in the direction of the dead body as Wilson thought despairingly to himself, ‘My career will be dead as well in a few minutes.”  
  
Claude also looked very worried as Wilson hesitantly called out after the group, "Ah, this way," trying to give Laura some more time to carry out whatever plan she had concocted.  
  
*******************************  
  
Meanwhile, Remington and Laura were trying to stuff the body into a wine barrel but were finding it rather difficult as one arm of the corpse wouldn’t bend. Laura pushed the head of the corpse into the barrel, urging Remington to keep pushing as well.  
  
"I'm pushing, I'm pushing," he muttered with some annoyance as they both sighed with frustration.  
  
Wilson reached the front of the group which was fast approaching the bottling area where Laura and Remington were struggling to hide the body. To give them a heads up of their approach he called out loudly, "This is the bottling section of the winery where the wine is put into bottles."  
  
Upon hearing Wilson, Laura gave up trying to bend the arm and instead stood in front of the barrel with Remington by her side. They both looked down to see the arm protruding between them. Laura hit it away then quickly changed positions with Remington, grabbing the arm and putting it around her waist as she leant into Remington so it wouldn’t look odd. They both forced smiles onto their faces just as Wilson walked in with the Board members.

"Ah..allow me to introduce the noted wine author, Nigel Woolley ...," Wilson struggled to remember the name Steele had used before when he had introduced them to Claude Vandermeer.

Remington tried to subtly mouth "Lindsey" which Wilson misread as "Lentil!" as both Claude and the Board members looked at him curiously.

Wilson then introduced the Chairman of the Board to them, "Chester Harcourt."  
  
"Never heard of you," Harcourt said dismissively as he shook Steele's hand.  
  
"Oh, I don't publish that much now in the colonies," Remington retorted, quickly thinking on his feet.  
  
Wilson continued with the introductions as he turned to Laura, "And his assistant, Miss Holt."  
  
"Hello," Laura greeted him in an overly cheery voice.  
  
"But you _do_ seem familiar to me," Harcourt stated as he peered a bit closer at the young woman, wondering where he knew her from, as Laura felt a surge of panic, hoping he wouldn’t remember back to a certain nightclub in Acapulco a few years before.  
  
"Really? I can't imagine where we would .." Laura went to reply in an attempt to deny having met him before, raising her own hand from holding the corpse's hand to her body. As the hand started to swing, Laura quickly grabbed it and brought it back to her waist, continuing her sentence, as she did so, "..have met before," she laughed loudly in an attempt to cover up, as Harcourt continued to stare at her.  
  
Wilson then tried to lead the Board members away saying, "Well, we still have a lot to see. Shall we?"  
  
"If you'll excuse us," Harcourt said to Remington, Laura and Claude but as he turned away he lost his step.  
  
Remington automatically leant forward to help balance him, saying, "Oops, there we go." He then went back to the barrel, putting his hand on Laura's left shoulder, but she quickly hit it away before anyone realized he appeared to have two left hands, one on her shoulder and one around her waist.  
  
"Excuse me, Lentil. I'm not usually so clumsy," Harcourt continued to stare at the smiling couple, still trying to figure out where he’d seen the woman before.  
  
"Oh yes, well, we all miss a step now and then," Remington laughed as Laura looked up at him and laughed as well.  
  
Harcourt, not impressed, turned away from them saying, "Carry on Wilson." Before he turned the corner Harcourt looked back at Laura who was looking down into the barrel. As Remington saw Harcourt looking at her, he pulled her up. They both forced smiles onto their faces and waved at Harcourt, who looked at them one more time before following the other Board members into the rest of the winery.  
  
****************  
  
Once they were alone, Remington and Laura wasted no time rolling the barrel with its lid firmly in place, out of the cellar.  
  
"There's no telling why he turned up back here. Sabotage maybe?" Laura wondered as they struggled with the barrel. "Would love to know why he was killed. We don't even know who he is."  
  
"That's the trouble with Harry," Remington stated.  
  
Laura looked at him and asked, "What makes you think his name was Harry?", the irony of that not lost on either of them, given that was one of the many names ‘Remington’ had been previously known by, and Laura telling him one night just a few months ago, “Tonight you looked like a Harry”, after observing him lose control after his friend Wallace had been killed.  
  
"Paramount…," Remington started rattling off a movie reference in reply, Laura finishing it off with him, "Nineteen fifty-five."  
  
Remington looked at her, impressed. I must be rubbing off on her, he thought to himself, a little surprised at how much that realization delighted him. "Hey,” he replied with a grin then added, “John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine. They had a similar problem keeping up with a roving corpse."  
  
The barrel fell upright as they both looked down and exclaimed "Ooh!"  
  
They were then approached by the woman they'd encountered earlier in the day with the horse. "Shake that any harder and you'll kill it for sure," she stated sourly.  
  
"Ah..," Remington looked around uncomfortably.  
  
"But then who said 'students of nature' knew anything about handling wine?" the woman continued as she gave them a knowing look, in reference to their explanation of who they were, that they had given during their earlier encounter.  
  
"And here I thought your forte was horses - or has Arnold got his back up again?" Remington quipped a little cheekily.  
  
"When you run an estate of twelve thousand acres you learn to be good at lots of things. You must be here for Claude. I should have guessed that before," she continued, a trace of bitterness in her voice.  
  
"And you must be ...?" Remington asked.  
  
"Alexis Vandermeer," she answered, less than happy at not being recognized.  
  
"Vandermeer," repeated Laura, "then you're..."  
  
"His mother. I'm afraid so. Somebody had to teach the poor creature how to make wine,” Alexis informed them, in a sarcastic tone then demanded, “ You with the bank that's hoping to cash in on that so-called cabernet?"

"And what if we are?" Laura countered.  
  
"You'll be throwing away a lot of good money, that's all. Land on this side of the valley is too sandy. One freak harvest of good grapes is not going to change that. I warned him it was just a matter of time before the soil gave out when he insisted on buying this place. You can see what he thinks of my opinion,” Mrs Van der Meer answered dismissively.  
  
"Then it's safe to assume you don't wish him every success," Remington commented, thinking to himself that was rather interesting and wondering what lengths this woman may have gone to in order to hinder her son’s success.  
  
"I broke my butt to build something I could pass onto Claude. And he threw it back at me. What would you suggest I wish for now?" Alexis retorted bitterly then added before heading off to the cellar, "And I'd put that cask inside if I were you. It will draw flies in the sun like that."  
  
Remington turned to Laura and remarked with a rueful grin, ”She does have a point there,” wondering to himself how long they would be able to hide the body in a barrel before it was discovered.


	5. Chapter 5

Remington and Laura pushed the barrel towards an open shed filled with machinery. "It would seem Claude and his mother have a very thick and stormy past,” Laura remarked as they set the barrel on its side and stopped to have a rest for a moment.  
  
"Might that apply elsewhere do you think?" Remington replied, giving her a pointed look.  
  
"If you're referring to Wilson and me, we were only together for a year, year and a half. It ended," she stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"Badly?" he asked, as her interactions with Wilson that he’d observed so far that day certainly seemed to suggest that.

Laura sighed and glanced up at him, not really knowing how to answer that, her expression saying more than words ever could. Remington suddenly felt an overwhelming need to comfort and protect her, which both surprised and scared him a little.

"I'm sorry. I'm hardly in a position to question your past. I just never thought it contained very many ... surprises," Remington replied sincerely, suddenly feeling bad that he’d pried into what was obviously a painful episode from her past.  
  
"Well, we all have our secrets, and our reasons for keeping them. That is still your philosophy," she replied as she gave him a meaningful look. As she did so, they both realised that in that respect, they really weren’t so different – both running from their past lives.  
  
"Perhaps, to a fault." Remington conceded.  
  
"Well then, until we're ready to..ah..break with tradition, I suggest we stand Harry back up on end and check in on ..," Laura went to stay then stopped as she looked at the shed and noticed with alarm that the barrel was no longer there.  
  
They both ran into the shed looking around for it, then Remington spied the barrel as it rolled down a nearby hill. "Come on," he urged Laura as they ran after it, only to see it crash through a white fence bordering the winery. The barrel lost momentum then finally stopped near a farmer on the adjoining property who placed a leg on the barrel, as Remington and Laura came up to him.

"You lose something maybe?" the farmer asked them in a German accent.  
  
"In a manner of speaking, ah, yes," Remington replied a little awkwardly, wondering how they were going to get the barrel back.  
  
Laura looked at the damaged fence and offered, "We'll be happy to pay for that fence. That was your fence?"  
  
The man looked at them, unimpressed. "Don't play the fool with me. I know how Vandermeer loves to taunt me with the success. So he sends you with his precious cabernet, in my nose to rub it, yes?"  
  
"Beg pardon?" Remington asked, somewhat confused.  
  
"Claude had .." Laura started before the man cut her off angrily.  
  
"I've been growing my grapes for forty years. My liebe Kinder. Like my father, and my grandfather along the Rhine. And that, that stoonk, no nothing, moves into the same soil, under the same sun, grows a cabernet good enough to die for."  
  
"You're not looking forward to his expansion I imagine," Laura stated.  
  
"Nature has played a cruel joke on me. But you tell Claude Vandermeer, Werner Shuman doesn't need his prizes or his wine!" he added then stamped his foot on the barrel causing the lid to fall off, along with 'Harry's' arm, as he walked towards his truck, luckily not seeing the arm. Remington and Laura hurried to put the arm and barrel lid back into place. _"_ I don't suppose there's an easier way back up there? _"_ Remington asked Werner hopefully, but Werner ignored him, instead continuing to his truck in disgust.  
  
Laura looked at Remington and remarked sarcastically, "Wonderful wine country,” as they started to push the barrel back down the road.  
  
"Wonderful. Gotta get to get know them really," Remington quipped in reply.  
  
"Oh, come on," Laura muttered in exasperation as they continued to push the barrel along the road back to the Vandermeer Winery.  
  
*****  
  
Later that evening, the bank board members were all rather ‘merry’ after partaking of several glasses each of the bank’s potential new investment’s produce, singing and carrying on raucously while Wilson opened another bottle for them.

Meanwhile, Laura, Remington and Claude Vandermeer sat on the floor in another part of the winery, leaning against the barrel containing ‘Harry’.

"It would appear someone might be using Harry here to sabotage your deal," Laura expressed her theory to Claude.  
  
"Harry? You found out his name, that's great," Claude replied.  
  
"Yes, well I'm afraid it's more endearing than accurate. Ah, this neighbour of yours, Werner, do you think he might be responsible?" Remington asked.  
  
"Well, he's not one of my bigger fans but I can't believe he's capable of killing anyone. My mother on the other hand ..." Claude stated ruefully.  
  
Laura looked at him as Remington murmured, "Thick and stormy past, eh?"  
  
"When I was nine I set up a lemonade stand. My mother told me the key to good lemonade was to scratch the sugar, and double the salt. And when I had a paper route she used to go through my papers every day and take out the funnies," Claude told them as they both winced at his mother’s harshness.

"She's always had this problem with me succeeding and she knows that this wine is my chance to finally make it on my own. I wouldn't put anything past her. Not after watching her drive my father Arnold to his grave."  
  
Laura exchanged a shocked look with Remington, both recalling the name of Mrs Vandermeer's horse, then asked Claude, "Your father's name was Arnold?".  
  
They then heard Wilson coming near and calling out, "Wait, wait, I'll get it." The three of them instantly jumped to their feet and lined up in front of the barrel in an effort to hide it, in case th eboard members followed him.  
  
Much to their dismay, Harcourt then came around the corner to find them standing there. "Damn fine brew you got here Vandermeer. Don't you think so, Lentil?" Harcourt said drunkenly to Remington, who momentarily wondered who he was speaking to, turning to look behind himself before he realized Harcourt was referring to him. "Oh yes…ah..in a class all by itself," he replied hurriedly, forcing a smile onto his face as Laura and Claude smiled as well and nodded in agreement.  
  
"But we're running just a little bit low," Harcourt continued as he touched his glass and then the tip of his nose." He then spied the barrel the three were trying to block from his view, "And there it is," he added gleefully, pointing to the barrel. Remington and Laura looked down worriedly at the barrel before standing even closer together with Claude to block the barrel from Harcourt.  
  
"In here boys, fresh supplies!" Harcourt yelled to the rest of the Board members as Remington, Laura and Claude began to panic a little.  
  
Laura started to speak but Claude interrupted, walking up to Harcourt saying, "We'll get you some more. I don't think this would be to your liking ... it hasn't aged yet." He then grabbed Harcourt's arm and started steering him in the opposite direction only to be pulled back by Harcourt. "Nonsense, I love them when they're young," he replied, leering at Laura a little as he did so as Remington found himself bristling a bit.  
  
"And botulised?” Remington put in, in an effort to convince Harcourt otherwise.  
  
"What?" Harcourt demanded.  
  
"Botulise cynareria. A fungus found on certain species of the grape. We fear that this ah..barrel may be, ah..tainted," Remington rattled off, moving in front of Harcourt in an effort to block his view of the barrel.

Harcourt laughed out loud in reply, some of his spit landing on Remington’s face as he did so. Remington pulled his handkerchief from his suit breast-pocket to wipe his face, trying to keep his expression neutral as he did so.

"You think we've had too much, don't you?" Harcourt sniggered.

"Oh no, no," Remington tried to deny it, looking to Claude for affirmation as he did so. "No, not at all," Claude agreed.  
  
Suddenly, Wilson came around the corner and stopped short when he saw the scene in front of him. "Mr Harcourt.."  
  
Harcourt turned around and put his hand on Wilson's shoulder. "Wilson, Wilson, maybe you haven't explained the situation clearly to everyone. We're the guys who have to push the final button on your loan," Harcourt stated in an annoyed tone as he looked at Claude.

"Now you're not trying to tell me, " he continued as he pushed past Claude and Remington, "that a couple of shots from that barrel.." he paused as Laura quickly jumped on the barrel, crossed her legs and smiled sweetly at him, "are worth more than twenty million, are you?"

Laura rolled her eyes and looked decidedly worried, as did Remington and Claude, both of whom had run out of ideas.  
  
Thinking quickly, Laura replied, "Of course not Mr Harcourt. It's just that Claude here wouldn't have you drink anything less than his very best." Not really wanting to resort to such measures, but thinking it was worth a shot, she then touched Harcourt's shirt lapels and vest and added huskily, "Right?"

Remington and Claude nodded in agreement in an effort to convince him, Remington trying to hide his reaction to Laura using that tone of voice with another man. Upon hearing her tone, Harcourt looked up from his chest and Laura's hands, suddenly remembering where he knew her from _._

"What a minute..now I remember, yeah, I thought you looked familiar. Wilson! Wilson, isn't she ...," he went to say as a lecherous grin crossed his face and Laura began to look decidedly anxious and Wilson turned pale. “No, no..” he tried to avert Harcourt’s suspicions as Laura laughed nervously and Remington wondered what the hell was going on.  
  
"Acapulco!" Harcourt yelled excitedly, pointing to Wilson as Laura tried to contain her nervous laughter to little avail, all the while shaking her head and trying to deny it but Harcourt was undeterred, remembering back to a certain night in Acapulco a few years before when Wilson’s then girlfriend had put on a rather ‘entertaining’ display while they were all at a nightclub. "You're the girl from Ac-a-pul-co," he continued, swinging his hips as Laura continued to deny it and Wilson looked like he was going to faint.  
  
Remington looked from Wilson to Laura and back, totally perplexed, "Acapulco?" he asked as Laura wished the ground would open up and swallow her. That was definitely part of her past that she would have preferred he knew nothing about.  
  
"Yeah you brought her down to the convention," Harcourt reminded Wilson while Laura hid her head in hand with embarrassment.  
  
"No really, it was someone else," Wilson tried to argue in a last ditch attempt to convince Harcourt as he raised his hand to suggest that it had been a taller woman, saying , "She was .." but Harcourt cut him off as the other Board members came into the room.  
  
"Hey guys, it's her. Remember the girl from Ac-a-pul-co," he said as he danced over to where they were standing. "You know, she did the big fan dance on the bar," he reminded them with a lewd expression on his face.  
  
Remington, still looking confused, sidled up to Laura and asked curiously, "The big fan dance on the bar?"  
  
Laura looked mortified with embarrassment "The dance was big, the..er.. fans weren't," she replied, moving her hands from her breasts to her nether regions, as Remington’s shocked gaze followed her hands.  
  
"Was it?" he asked, not quite believing what he was hearing, trying to hide the hint of a grin from crossing his face.  
  
"Hey it is!" yelled out another Board member as he recognized Laura as well. Remington stood behind her, not quite sure what to make of it all. True, he’d had a glimpse of her ‘wild side’ the night they first met – but a fan dance in a bar?! Practical, level-headed, always in control Laura Holt? That revelation seemed to confirm what he already suspected – that there were two very distinct sides to the woman standing in front of him.  
  
"Hey boys, let's get the barrel," the second Board member approached Laura, holding up his hands as if to grope her, laughing, "Roll out the barrel."  
  
Laura put her hands up in defense and with Remington following, moved through the Board members who were gathering around the barrel to where Wilson stood, looking resigned to his fate. "It's all over now," he muttered despondently.

And in that moment Laura made a decision – she wasn’t sure why, after all Wilson had broken her heart, but she still cared about him and the pitiful look on his face made her feel somewhat sorry for him. She knew how much his career meant to him and she knew facing the prospect of possibly losing his job would be devastating for him. But desperate times called for desperate measures and things were certainly looking desperate she realized.  
  
She then turned to Remington, saying, "I want you to forget the next five minutes of your life."  
  
"What?" Remington asked, wondering what on earth she was planning to do – this was getting more bizarre by the minute.  
  
Laura then ran ahead of the drunken Board members who were starting to roll the barrel. "All right boys," she announced loudly to get their attention as they stopped and looked at her. She took off her jacket saying, "There's no sense in denying the past while there's still a future to be lived," then she then tossed her jacket into the air, Wilson and Remington both looking at her with bewilderment, wondering what she was doing.

"Right?" Laura sauntered up to Harcourt and grabbed the glass of wine from his hand. "Think Acapulco was fun?" she asked as she drank the remaining wine from Harcourt's glass and then threw it down where it dramatically smashed on the floor. "You ain't seen nothing yet," she added promisingly then she untied her scarf and kissing Harcourt, placed the scarf around his neck.

She broke off the kiss and ran around the corner as the Board members remained motionless, momentarily stunned, as were Remington and Wilson. She then came back around the corner and stated with a flirtatious grin, "Anything you catch, you keep." She kicked her left leg so her shoe sailed up in an arc before landing in a shocked Remington’s hands, before turning and running away.  
  
Spurred into action, Harcourt undid his vest calling out with excitement, "ACAPULCO!", then led the other Board members after her. Remington and Wilson exchanged a worried glance before also running after her, Remington calling out, "Laura!" as they did so. Whilst he certainly appreciated her zeal , not to mention her ingenuity in coming up with such a daring plan, he was quite concerned what may happen to her if any of those drunken buffoons actually caught her. Oh he knew she was more than capable of handling herself one on one, but he was worried she may have bitten off more than she could chew.

Laura however had no such concerns – in fact she was having a ball, leading these drunken, would be lotharios on a merry chase. She had to admit it felt good to let loose and throw caution to the wind, just like she’d done that night with the mysterious stranger who over the past 6 months had become an integral part of her life, whether she wanted to admit it or not. That thrill of excitement was like a drug to her, letting herself feel rather than think, tapping into that wilder side of herself that she normally kept hidden away these days – ever since it had cost her her relationship with Wilson. And as she ran through the winery’s corridors she couldn’t help but thinking about the two very different men who were also running after her – one who had represented everything she had thought, or at least convinced herself, she wanted in a man – safety, stability, predictability, but who had ultimately left her. And the other – who represented, if she was being honest with herself, what her heart truly desired – passion, excitement, adventure. But who she also suspected, had the ability to break her heart even more deeply than Wilson had if she let him get too close.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind for the time being though, she focused on the task at hand, providing a distraction so those two very men could get ‘Harry’ out of there. She spied Harcourt walking past a gap between two wine vats and got an idea. She stripped off her blouse and appeared on the other side of the gap to him, dressed only in her skirt and satin teddy, then she snuck up behind Harcourt and placed her blouse on his head. He pulled it off with a grin then turned to see Laura beckon him with her finger. Harcourt tried to squeeze through the gap between the wine vats but couldn’t fit, due to his rather large girth. Laura laughed wickedly as she ran away then removed her skirt, leaving her pink teddy her only remaining attire.  
  
Meanwhile Remington and Wilson were standing still together for a moment as they tried to figure out which way she’d gone. One of the Board members, a tall, balding man, ran through them dancing and calling out, "Acapulco!", which sent the two of them running off in search of Laura again.  
  
"Hi lover," Laura murmured in a husky voice to the tall man as she came up behind him. He turned around with a lascivious smile as Laura threw her skirt in his face and ran away laughing.  
  
Laura squeezed through two vine vats before ducking, as Harcourt and the tall, balding man missed grabbing her and crashed into each other. She continued running, looking behind her for a moment, when she suddenly ran into the monk that had watched her, Remington and Wilson, earlier in the day as they drove to the vineyard. At a loss as to what he was doing there and what she should do, she automatically put her hands together as if she was praying _._ The monk then quickly turned and ran off.

Remington, still holding Laura's shoe, then rushed around the corner and into Laura. He took in her Laura's state of undress with some surprise, trying but failing to avert his eyes from the tops of her breasts that were visible under the satin teddy that was her only clothing. And he knew he wouldn’t be the only male in the building who was enjoying that view, a thought which irked him no end. As he looked at her, with her face flushed, a mischievous gleam in her eye and hardly any clothes on, he couldn’t help but remembering back to the night they had first met when she had looked rather similar and he could feel his body’s automatic reaction to that memory as well as the sight of her in front of him now.

Trying to get himself under control, knowing they had a job to do, and also concerned for her welfare he said a little awkwardly, "Ah, Laura, ah I appreciate your..your..,” he struggled for words as he tried to tear his eyes off her, ”your.. ah..your zeal, but we can't let the situation get out of hand, can we?."  
  
"It's all right. I can handle them,” Laura reassured him with a laugh. My God, she’s enjoying this, he thought to himself with some surprise - he was fast learning that Laura Holt was full of surprises.  
  
"Oh..," Remington replied, at a loss for words, as they heard one of the Board members call out, "There she is."  
  
"Just get Harry out of here," Laura implored him before dashing away again. Remington watched her go then turned around quickly, only to bump into Harcourt. "That way, yes," he directed him, pointing in the opposite direction to which Laura had headed. Remington then headed back to the aisle where they had left Harry in the barrel, with Wilson close behind him. Remington found Claude leaning over a crate and asked with alarm, "The barrel? What happened?"  
  
"I don't know, somebody hit me from behind," Claude groaned in reply.  
  
"Could it have been one of the bankers?" Remington asked Wilson.  
  
"The Board is all back there," Wilson replied. They then both saw that the barrel was missing, "Steele..the barrel, don't tell me!" Wilson exclaimed in a panic.  
  
"Oh no! Here you go," Remington replied as he handed Laura's shoe to Claude then ran outside with Wilson.  
  
Both men looked around frantically around as Wilson confirmed, ”You didn't take it."  
  
"No," Remington agreed.  
  
"I didn't take it."  
  
"No."  
  
"They didn't take it," Wilson stated, in reference to the Board.  
  
"Uh uh," Remington shook his head, the two of them at a loss as to who could have taken the barrel with Harry in it.  
  
Laura then ran out of the building, still only dressed in her lingerie. "Okay, where did you put him?" she asked the two men expectantly.  
  
"Where did we put him? Steele?" Wilson asked frantically, looking to Remington for a lifeline.  
  
"Ah..yes..well it appears someone thought all the excitement was more than Harry can handle," Remington explained uncomfortably as Laura looked at him in disbelief.  
  
"Oh no," she replied in a frustrated tone, thinking to herself, I just did all that for nothing??...  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Laura, Remington, Wilson and Claude decided to search the winery again for ‘Harry’. As they walked along Laura asked Claude, "Are you sure you didn't see who hit you?".  
  
"All I remember is Harcourt running in front of me shouting Acapu..," Claude went to reply but Laura cut him off hurriedly, in order to save herself further embarrassment. "Yes, we know. Now this sounds ridiculous but is it possible that I saw a monk in there last night?"  
  
"A monk? What would a monk be doing here? This is hardly a place for a.." Claude went to reply.  
  
"A religious experience?" Remington put in with the hint of a mischievous grin, as he glanced at Laura who ignored him.  
  
"Wait a minute, isn't there a monastery somewhere around here Claude?" Wilson asked.  
  
"Well, there's the Order of St. Costello, of course, but the monks hardly ever leave the monastery and I can't imagine them lugging a body around," Claude answered.  
  
"Well, whoever took it may have already tried to plant it back here," Wilson said with a worried look on his face, "waiting to let it drop at the right moment."  
  
"Harry's timing has been rather precise before," Remington quipped.  
  
"Well, I suggest we find him before he finds us," Laura stated adamantly. As she walked off, Remington watched her go, then glanced at Wilson and back at Laura, wondering to himself how things stood between them now, especially after Laura had effectively saved Wilson’s neck the night before. If he was grateful to her for that, would that perhaps draw Laura back to him Remington thought to himself? _  
_  
*****  
  
Laura walked into an open shed, randomly picking up things, lost in thought. She turned to see Wilson behind her. "I was..ah..just checking in here," she said a little awkwardly.   
  
"Me too," Wilson replied just as awkwardly as he slowly pulled one of her stockings from his pocket and nervously cleared his throat as he handed it to her.  
  
"All right Wilson, say it," Laura sighed as she took it from him.  
  
"Maybe we should just forget last night," Wilson muttered, unable to look at her.  
  
"Why? Because there was wild, crazy Laura making a fool of you in front of the whole bank?" Laura threw at him bitterly, using the exact same words he had used the day he left her.  
  
"Laura, I know I asked for your help, I just didn't expect anything like that," he replied uncomfortably.   
  
"I never expected you to leave me," she shot back at him _,_ tears springing to her eyes much to her frustration.  
  
"It just wasn't working out Laura," Wilson tried to defend his past actions.   
  
"For whom?" Laura demanded, all the pain she had felt when he’d left her suddenly rushing back to her. She felt all the self doubt and the feeling she couldn’t be her real self, threatening to rear its ugly head all over again.

"Either of us," he stated adamantly. "I like things being organized, regular, predictable. You love spontaneity, being reckless, living dangerously."  
  
"I also loved you," Laura replied, her voice taut with emotion as she stormed off before her feelings overwhelmed her. She hated feeling like this and as angry as she was at Wilson, she was also angry at herself for allowing him to make her feel like that again.

As she walked away from him, she noticed Remington standing at the edge of the shed, and realized as she looked back at Wilson that he has overheard their conversation. He did not however say a word, instead he looked at her with such concern that it took her by surprise with how much it touched her heart, as she realized at that moment that was just what she needed.

*****  
Later that day, deciding that Claude’s neighbor, Werner Shuman was a potential suspect, Laura, Remington and Wilson drove over in the Rabbit to his winery.

As they looked around, Laura spied two lines in the sand that appeared to have been made by a barrel being rolled on its side and remarked, "Harry did disappear rather quickly."  
  
"You're not suggesting that he rolled it all the way down here?" Wilson asked.  
  
"Well, anything's possible," Laura replied.  
  
Remington followed the lines on the ground, "And if we're right about this track, Harry should be in here somewhere," he informed the others as he led the way into the vineyard.

They found themselves in a large cellar with hundreds of barrels lining each side of it. "Harry could be anywhere," Laura stated, wondering if they were ever going to find him.  
  
"There must be hundreds of them," Wilson added despairingly.  
  
"Mmm, it seems Harry's bent on challenging us, eh?" Remington agreed.  
  
"Well, I'll guess I'll check down there. Tell me if you find anything," Wilson said as he headed towards the back of the cellar. After their earlier emotionally fraught discussion, he was keen to distance himself from Laura for a bit. He had never been good with confrontation and nothing much had changed over the years.  
  
Meanwhile Laura and Remington started searching in one of the side aisles. Once they were alone, Laura started to say, "Look, what happened before with Wilson.." but Remington interjected, "You don't have to explain Laura. I mean, he must have meant a great deal to you. Last night made that clear enough,” tapping on a barrel as he did so.   
  
"Yeah, last night," Laura replied ruefully as she started tapping barrels as well, felling decidedly uncomfortable. She didn’t know how she felt about him witnessing her in such a vulnerable state and she had to admit, she was also a bit worried what he had thought of her behavior. Although it wasn’t the first time he had witnessed her ‘wild side’, it was different now. Now they weren’t just two strangers who had just met, enjoying a no-strings attached night together – now they knew each other and worked together and had something of a relationship, although what exactly that relationship was Laura wasn’t sure.  
  
"He was in trouble, and without thought of yourself you rushed to his aid. Frankly, I rather envied his predicament," Remington stated with a grin in an effort to lighten her mood a bit.  
  
Laura laughed, his response making her feel somewhat better, then asked him a little warily, "Were you shocked?", still dreading a bit what his answer would be.   
  
"Well, I never knew you'd been to Acapulco before," he quipped, putting her fears to rest somewhat.  
  
"No. But there was more than just helping Wilson in that," she admitted, then looking somewhat unsure added, "There was a lot of me too."  
  
"Yes. I saw that. Where do you suppose that Laura's been all this time?" Remington asked, refraining from adding, “I saw a glimpse of her the night we met, but nothing since until now.”  
  
"Hiding," she confessed shyly, her vulnerability showing and affecting Remington more than he would like to admit. "She already cost me one relationship - I couldn't take a chance on her doing it again."  
  
Remington picked up on her using the word ‘relationship’ in reference to them, but before he got a chance to ask her about that, one of the barrels above them was dislodged and started to roll towards them, gathering other barrels on its way. He grabbed Laura and called out a warning, "Watch out!" as he pulled her out of the way, the two of them landing on the floor together.  
  
Hearing the commotion, Wilson hurried up to the fallen barrels, "Laura, Steele!" he exclaimed in alarm as they both stood up from behind the barrels, dusting themselves off, "Are you all right?" Wilson asked with concern.  
  
“A few splintered nerves but.. ah..unharmed," Remington informed him.  
  
Laura, looked annoyed at someone deliberately trying to endanger them, as well as their timing - interrupting their meaningful conversation. "Come on," she said determinedly to the two men as she led the way up out of the cellar, eager to catch the culprit.

  
Finding no trace of anyone inside, the three of them then headed outside, only to catch sight of Werner driving away in his truck with a barrel in the back.

"Do you think we can catch him?" Wilson asked hopefully.  
  
"Well, if Laura drives," Remington replied with a wry grin.  
  
"I'm getting very possessive about Harry," Laura stated adamantly as they all hopped in the car, then Laura gunned the engine and pulled out quickly, in hot pursuit of the truck.  
  
*****  
  
As they drove along Wilson remarked despondently, "I don't see him anymore. We've lost him."

"He must have disappeared somewhere back in here," Laura replied. She then drove around a corner to find the barrel lying by the side of the road.

Laura backed the car up then they all hopped out, Remington rushing to the barrel and opening it.  
  
"Ahhh..empty. Damn! I was almost getting used to seeing him in there," he announced.  
  
Laura kicked the barrel in frustration. "It doesn't make sense."  
  
"Werner has him and we don't. That's clear enough isn't it?" Wilson argued as he looked in the direction Werner had driven.  
  
"But we're chasing him - why would he stop just to take Harry out of the barrel?" Laura pondered.  
  
"Well, perhaps he didn't stop?" Remington offered.  
  
"And the barrel fell out?" Laura surmised.  
  
"Then where's the body?" Wilson asked, getting a little desperate. If they didn’t find that body he could kiss his job at the bank goodbye, he thought to himself.  
  
"That's the part that doesn't make sense," Laura replied as she walked to the side of the road, trying to come up with a plausible theory.  
  
"Well, he didn't just dust himself off and walk away," Wilson stated in frustration.  
  
"Oh well I wouldn't sell Harry short, he's managed to get around fairly well for a dead man," Remington put in.  
  
Suddenly Laura spied something in a nearby bush and to her surprise as she picked it up, found it was a rope belt. "Unless he did walk away," she mused.  
  
"To where?" Remington asked curiously, wondering what that marvelous mind of hers was ticking over.  
  
"To some place where rope belts are in fashion," Laura replied as she looked towards the nearby monastery.  
  
"St. Costello's I presume?" Remington asked.  
  
"Well then, let’s just go down and have a word with those people," Wilson said adamantly.  
  
"Ahh, I don't think that would be our wisest choice," Remington countered.  
  
"People who take bodies have a tendency to try to conceal that fact, remember?" Laura reminded Wilson – after all, that’s exactly what he’d done.  
  
"Oh, right," Wilson agreed somewhat reluctantly.  
  
"But we might want to have a look around on our own. Anyone have any plans for this evening, mmm?" Remington proposed with a grin as he looked expectantly at Wilson and Laura.


	7. Chapter 7

That night, they parked the Rabbit outside the monastery. Laura and Wilson remained in the car as Remington got out and said, "Give me a moment to find a soft spot in their defenses okay?" Laura nodded as he headed off.  
  
Once they were alone, Wilson started to speak, "Listen, Laura, about last night..."  
  
"We've been through this already Wilson," she cut him off with a sigh.  
  
"No,” he replied as Laura looked at him, not sure where he was going with this. "Seeing you cut loose the way you can," Wilson shook his head in amazement, "just made me realize how much I miss that in my life now. If it weren't for you I'd still be setting out my clothes the night before and making hospital corners on my bed,” he admitted.  
  
Laura looked at him, surprised. "You've stopped?"  
  
"Mmm,” he nodded in confirmation. “And you know every once in a while I'll call in sick and spend the whole day at the movies," he added with a smile.  
  
Laura smiled in return but still found it a bit hard to believe – that was so unlike the straitlaced, never step a foot out of line Wilson that she had known. "Really?" she asked.  
  
"It's from you Laura. It has to be. You and your.." he went to reply.  
  
"Terminal flights of frivolity?" Laura put in with a laugh, remembering how he used to describe her behavior like that sometimes, and finding to her surprise that it didn’t upset her as much as it used to. And then it dawned on her why – because she had met someone who actually accepted that part of her, who in fact welcomed it rather than running away from it. Someone who she knew was a much better match for her than the man sitting next to her in the car.  
  
"I guess you used to hear that from me a lot?" Wilson asked ruefully.  
  
"That, and how important it was to be level-headed, conscientious, keeping up the right sort of appearances," she remembered.  
  
"Pret-ty dull," Wilson conceded as he shook his head a little regretfully.  
  
"I don't know. I mean, look's what happened to me since then. I've really thrown myself into my career, moved up the ranks, started my own agency," Laura stated, as she realised some of Wilson’s better qualities had rubbed off on her, just as much as some of hers had obviously rubbed off on him.  
  
"When was that?" Wilson asked curiously.  
  
"Oh, it.. that was before I started working for Mr Steele," she covered quickly, realizing her mistake.  
  
"I'm sorry if I hurt you Laura,” Wilson apologized sincerely. “I'm sorry it didn't work out better, but we're just too..."  
  
"Different?" Laura finished for him, knowing it was true. Hearing him say the words she’d needed to hear from him for so long, she felt her heart finally starting to heal. Not all the way yet – but it was a start at least. And it gave her something she had needed before she could really move on from him – closure.   
  
Wilson nodded with a smile. "It's nice to know it wasn't all bad."  
  
"No, it wasn't all bad," Laura agreed, with a dimpled smile of her own.

They shared a brief kiss before pulling away laughing, just as Remington came back to the car and told them, "I've think I've found a spot." He then noticed they were laughing and asked curiously, "What's everyone laughing about?"  
  
"Progress," Laura responded with a smile, finally feeling somewhat freer of the shadow of rejection that Wilson had left her with.  
  
Remington looked at the two of them, not entirely convinced. Had he just interrupted something between them? he wondered, the thought bothering him more than he would have liked to admit. Pushing such thoughts aside for the moment though and focusing on the job at hand he stated, "There's a wall around the side that doesn't look too difficult. You coming Wilson?"  
  
"I'm still the vice-president of the bank. I'll stand guard," Wilson replied, looking a bit shocked that Steele would think he would risk his job by accompanying them as they snuck into the monastery.   
  
"Fair enough" Remington replied, secretly glad Wilson wasn’t coming with them as he opened the car door for Laura who gave him a smile as she hopped out, thinking to herself how Wilson’s response just further confirmed the differences between him and the man she called Remington Steele. Wilson was all about appearances and put his career above all else. He didn’t believe in taking unnecessary risks and always played it safe.

‘Mr Steele’ on the other hand, thrived on taking risks – he’d been taking them all his life just to survive, sometimes with less than optimal results, but that never stopped him. He was a man of action – where he came from, actions always spoke louder than words. And if the last six months was anything to go by, life with him was never going to be predictable or dull, Laura thought to herself. And that fact, as well as the man himself, Laura found damn near impossible to resist.  
  
******************************  
  
Once inside the monastery, they crept into a room and peering into a hallway spied a monk walking through it. They quickly pulled back into the room so as not to be seen, brushing up against a row of cassocks as they did so. "Perhaps it would be better if we dressed for the occasion?" Laura suggested as she nodded towards them.  
  
"Yes, well if you really think the medieval cut is called for," Remington retorted as they both took a cassock and put them on. Still adjusting to the length of hers a bit, Laura tripped into a nearby hallway with Remington close behind her. They both pulled on their hoods to hide their faces, and began walking in front of a group of monks who followed them.  
  
"It's awfully quiet in here. I've yet to even hear someone talking," Laura said under her breath.  
  
"Well, if I had to wear one of these all the time I wouldn't know what to say either," Remington remarked as he looked rather uncomfortable.  
  
They then stopped together as Laura reached out and touched Remington’s arm. They turned around to see two rows of monks lined up behind them. As they walked forward, the monks followed them. Keen to get away from them so they could search for ‘Harry’, Remington indicated to Laura to shuffle towards the wall, only to have the monks follow them in unison.

In desperation, Remington then pulled Laura through a nearby doorway, scurrying thorough the room before they stopped short in another doorway. The monks rushed after them, resulting in them bumping into Laura and Remington in a domino effect, as an annoyed expression crossed Remington’s face as each subsequent one bumped into him.

The monks then gradually moved from behind them into a candle-lit room in which ‘Harry’ was laid on a wooden table in a white shroud. surrounded by monks in reverential silence.  
  
"Hello, Harry, it's nice to see you again," Remington murmured as he and Laura followed them into the room.  
  
****************

"Well at least we know where Harry is now," Laura commented as they as they walked out of that room and into another. "And his wardrobe has certainly taken a turn for the better," Remington agreed as he went to open the door but quickly shut it again as he saw more monks filing past. They then whirled around and exited through the only remaining door, down a set of stairs into a wine cellar. Remington turned on the light as Laura walked up to a table laid with very dusty wine bottles laying in a bed of straw.  
  
"Do you think Harry's here to stay or is this merely another stop along the road?" Remington asked, thinking to himself what a truly bizarre case this was. Not to mention the emotions he’d found being stirred in him due to Laura’s ex-boyfriend’s involvement in the case. Jealousy was something of a new experience for him – he’d never really stayed with a woman long enough before or been emotionally invested enough, to feel threatened by another man.  
  
"I don't know. What would these monks want with his body in the first place?" Laura replied.  
  
Remington picked up a bottle and blew a cloud of dust off it, as Laura also picked up a bottle and inspected it, her thoughts on the case but also on the man standing in front of her. After the break through she’d just had with Wilson, she felt like a weight had been lifted from both her shoulders and her heart. And Remington’s reaction to her ‘cutting loose’ the night before, so different to Wilson’s, had both surprised her a bit and warmed her heart.

"Yes, perhaps they plan on taking him back to Claude's?” he surmised.  
  
"Well, that would mean that they were behind the sabotage," Laura replied, not quite convinced of his theory.  
  
"Monks have been known to do stranger things. Think of Rasputin," Remington countered as he opened the bottle of wine.  
  
"Rasputin?" Laura asked with a laugh.  
  
"Yes. _'Rasputin and the Empress'_ , MGM, 1932. John, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore. Oh wonderful stuff! Mad monk Rasputin terrorizes all of Russia,” Remington rattled off with a grin as he filled a goblet he found with wine.  
  
"But why would a group of monks want to sabotage a winery?" Laura asked, still not convinced.  
  
"Because they have a winery of their own?" Remington suggested as he took a sip of wine. "Hmm. And a very good vintage too," he nodded in appreciation as Laura took the goblet he offered and took a sip.  
  
"Hmm..it is good," she agreed as she took another sip, "very familiar." She laughed to herself, "You know, it makes me think of ..." she went to say, remembering the red wine they had shared in his hotel room the night they met – the night she had thrown caution to the wind and spent the night with the handsome, blue eyed stranger with the mysterious past.  
  
"What?" he asked curiously.   
  
Laura looked up at him, "I don't think I should say, it might surprise you." It might surprise me too, Laura thought to herself a little ruefully, considering where her thoughts were heading.   
  
"Considering recent events, I don't think that's at all possible," Remington quipped with a slight raise to his eyebrow, wondering where she was heading with this.   
  
Laura hesitated for a moment then decided to bite the bullet. ‘Wild Laura’ had been unleashed now, the side of her that acted rather than thought, and she didn’t want to hide her away again just yet. "Do you think there's any danger in feeling too much too soon?" she asked, her voice sultry, as she looked at him through her eyelashes.  
  
"It all depends on what you're feeling," Remington replied, pleasantly surprised at this turn of events as he wondered how she was going to respond.   
  
"Something like this," Laura stated as she closed the distance between them and kissed him. Remington responded enthusiastically to her, delighted at her making the first move. This was the Laura he had spent that incredible night with – the Laura he’d been trying to find again ever since. He managed to break away long enough to murmur, "I don't think that's safe at all," his lips still close to hers, hoping she wasn’t going to suddenly regret her bold move.

"So I'll live dangerously," she replied, her voice husky as they kissed again, the kiss deepening as they both gave into their feelings for each other, the passion they had shared the first night they met roaring to life again. Remington’s hand went to the back of Laura’s head as her mouth opened to his, both of them craving more of each other, Laura pressing her body against his as he pulled her against him. The irony of the fact that they were both decked out in monk’s robes was not lost on either of them, given that the thoughts running through both of their heads at that moment were the exact opposite of religious orders’ vows of celibacy.

As if on cue, they were then interrupted by a monk walking into the cellar. As they sprang apart, Laura recognized him as the monk she had run into in the Vandermeer wine cellar the night before.

"That's him!" she exclaimed as Remington grabbed the monk and pulled him back against the cellar wall, saying, "Ahh, gotcha, gotcha! Uh-uh, uh-uh. Icy calm, icy calm," as the monk struggled a bit in panic and he pointed towards the doorway Laura was blocking.  
  
"No, no, no, we don't want to hurt you," Laura reassured him, "we only want to talk to you, really."

In reply the monk pulled back and shook his head.

"No?" Laura asked with some confusion as she looked to Remington. The monk then handed her a piece of paper from his sleeve. She read the message aloud, "The Order of St. Costello has taken a vow of silence. Thank you for understanding."  
  
"A vow of silence," Remington stated in disbelief. "Oh wonderful, I mean how are we supposed to question him, press him for facts, elicit the information vital to the case, huh?" he added in exasperation.  
  
"I don't know!" Laura answered, equally at a loss for a solution to their problem.  
  
Remington then stepped up to the monk, his tone accusing as he stated, "Ah, that's just a clever ploy isn't it? You killed him didn't you?" In reply the monk shook his head adamantly and pointed at Remington and Laura.  
  
"Us! You think _we_ killed him?" Laura asked incredulously as the monk nodded.  
  
"That's a rash statement if ever I heard one," Remington remarked, then realised the irony of what he’d said, given that the monk had not spoken.  
  
"We had nothing to do with his death," Laura explained, "we don't even know who Harry is." The monk then looked at Laura in confusion.  
  
Noticing the monk’s confused expression, Remington asked him, "The fellow upstairs, you know who he is?"

The monk nodded and moved his hands down his cassock, pointing upstairs. Not understanding, Remington gave him a puzzled look as the monk repeated the action. "Unfortunately, charades has never been one of my strong points," Remington declared as he gave Laura a meaningful look.  
  
"Allow me," Laura replied, suddenly thankful for her mother’s insistence on the ‘Holt family tradition’ of playing charades every Christmas Day. She then turned to the monk, trying to guess what his actions were trying to tell them. "Ah.. body, person, body upstairs, is you? Is, no, is like you? Is like you! Like you?" She turned to Remington and asked, "Who, who could that be?"  
  
"Try brother," he suggested. The monk then pointed to his nose indicting that Remington was right.  
  
"Brother? Brother!" The monk started motioning again so Laura continued guessing. "His brother, his brother monkey, his brother monkey, monk, .."  
  
"Hah, Harry was a monk?" Remington interjected. Again, the monk pointed to his nose to indicate he was right. Remington laughed and drank some more wine, starting to enjoy the charades.  
  
"Harry was a monk? He was a monk!" Laura exclaimed with a laugh of her own as she gave Remington’s hand a congratulatory shake but the monk stopped their celebration by shaking his head and pointing his finger.

"No?" Laura asked with some surprise – she was sure they had been on the right track. Undeterred though, she continued with the charades. "Two syllables - first syllable, sounds like..sounds like, ah, talk, chatter, ah, babble, blabber, blab." The monk stopped her, "Blab? Blab."

Remington started mimicking the monk's actions as Laura concentrated on the clues. "B-b, blab. Blab, bla-bla," the monk covered her mouth with his hand, "bl-, blab, bab, bab, bab, ab, ab! Ab, first syllable. Ab."  
  
"Ab? Ab, ab," Remington repeated, then urged Laura to continue, "Oh you're doing wonderful."  
  
"Second syllable. – circle?" Laura tried to guess then Remington offered, “Dais?”, but the monk shook his head at both of them.

"Ah, ah, ah, bowl, chamber, pot, pot, pot?" Laura continued, trying to think of things that were round, then the monk pointed to his nose and to her to indicate she was right. "Ab-pot? Ab-pot, ab-bot," Laura guessed as she clicked her fingers, finally figuring it out. "Abbot - Harry is the Abbot?"  
  
The monk nodded and smiled in confirmation. "Well done Laura! Of course, if that's the truth then Harry was the Abbot of Costello," Remington couldn’t help but quip as he laughed at his own joke, as both the monk and Laura looked at him disapprovingly. “Sorry," he quickly apologised.  
  
Laura then asked the monk, "Do you know who killed your Abbot or why?" He sadly shook his head in response.  
  
"Oh, well, that simply leaves us with the body. Again," Remington stated, somewhat exasperated.   
  
"Maybe that’s the key," Laura replied, a plan to catch the killer quickly forming in her head. "We've been chasing all over town after Harry. Don't you think it's time he did a little something for us?"  
  
"Laura, I realize that Harry has been a bit little elusive at times, even uncooperative, but the man's dead," Remington pointed out.   
  
Laura turned to the monk and asked, "Do you really want to know who killed your Abbot?" The monk nodded eagerly then Laura continued, "How badly?"  
  



	8. Chapter 8

The next night they put Laura’s plan to catch the culprit into action, laying the Abbot out in the middle of a clearing, hoping the killer would return to try and get rid of the body once and for all. Laura, Remington, Wilson and the monk from the wine cellar hid in the surrounding bushes, ready to nab the guilty party.

While they waited, Remington offered Wilson a goblet of wine from the bottle which the monk had generously given to him.

"Good thinking Steele. It would never occur to me to turn something like this into a pleasant experience. What should we drink to? Catching the culprit?" Wilson whispered.  
  
"How about Harry?" Remington offered.  
  
"How about.. Laura?" Wilson replied with a smile. Remington returned the smile as he clinked Wilson's goblet and they both toasted, "To Laura.". After the way she had kissed him in the wine cellar the night before, Remington was fairly sure she was ready to move on from Wilson so he harbored the other man no ill will. In fact, as he sipped his wine, he thought to himself that Wilson’s loss was his gain, so if anything he should be thanking him.  
  
Interrupting his thoughts, Wilson stated, "Funny thing about wine, some you enjoy when they're young impudent, rash. Others, mellow with age. And then there are some .."  
  
"That never lose their mystery, no matter when you find them," Remington put in, both of them knowing they weren’t just talking about wine.  
  
Wilson acknowledged the sentiment with a smile as he replied, "Here's to mystery."

They were all more than surprised when the culprit turned out to be none other than Claude Vandermeer himself, who had killed the Abbot after he threatened to expose the fact that his prize winning cabernet was actually produced by the monks, and therefore he was fraudulently trying to obtain money for the expansion of his winery from Wilson’s bank.

  
*****  
With the mystery finally solved, the following afternoon Wilson, Laura and Remington and the monks finally laid the Abbott/Harry to rest in the monastery grounds.

"The running's over old boy. Get a good rest," Remington commented as dirt was placed on the grave. The monk he and Laura had met in the monastery wine cellar nudged Remington and gestured to him to come join him for a drink in the monastery. Remington nodded in agreement as Laura walked with Wilson to his awaiting taxi. 

"Laura, I really want to thank you for everything," Wilson stated gratefully but Laura pointed out, "You found Harry. If it weren't for you Claude would have run away with the money from the financing. You're a hero Wilson."  
  
"Harcourt and the Board seem to think so. They’ve given me another promotion," Wilson informed her.  
  
"Oh," Laura replied, genuinely pleased for him.  
  
"Save them enough money, and they have to,” he stated a little wryly then added with a smile, ”Look, sometime when I'm in town I'd like to give you a call."  
  
"And we'll have dinner. I'd like that,” Laura answered sincerely with a smile of her own, finally allowing herself to let go of the hurt he had caused her and move on.  
  
Wilson opened the taxi door then turned to Laura and said, "Oh..about this boss of yours, Steele. He's a nice guy, but a little reserved."  
  
"Uh huh," Laura said, trying to hide a grin a she thought to herself how wrong he was.  
  
"See if you can loosen him up a little. A little," Wilson stated with a grin.  
  
Laura laughed, "I'll try," (thinking mischievously to herself, 'Oh I can think of a few ways to do that’) then kissed Wilson goodbye as Remington walked towards them.

Wilson hopped into the taxi which then drove away as Remington watched it go, hoping now with the case closed and Wilson out of the way that they could refocus on each other. He couldn’t stop thinking about the heated, passionate kiss they’d shared in the monastery wine cellar the other night. If the monk hadn’t had walked in on them when he did, he wondered where that kiss would have led - oh he knew where he wanted it to lead, and from the way Laura had kissed him and pressed herself against him he was pretty sure she wanted the same thing. Well nothing ventured, nothing gained old sport, he thought to himself as he reached her side.  
  
"Laura, I've been thinking about this fan dance you did in Acapulco..," he said with a devillish raise to his eyebrow.  
  
"Ah," she replied with a smile.  
  
"I mean, just how…fanny was it?" he continued with a cheeky, lopsided grin.  
  
"You really want to see it, don't you?" Laura laughed, marvelling again at how different he was to her ex-boyfriend.  
  
"Well..ah..being a connoisseur of exotic dance, I always like to explore new forms," Remington quipped mischievously.

"Uh-huh," Laura laughed again, "maybe someday."  
  
"Ah, I see," Remington replied with a nod. "Everything in its own time and place, I suppose," he added, a tinge of disappointment in his voice as he thought nothing was going to come of that kiss anytime soon. It seemed to him that despite that all too brief moment when their passion had flared again, it was again going to be a case of a moment between them full of promise but no fulfillment.  
  
Laura hesitated for a moment before replying, but only for a moment. Remington hadn’t been the only one who couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss they had shared. She had surprised not only him but herself with her boldness – but she didn’t regret it, not for a moment. The last few days she had spent with him and Wilson had given her more confidence to be herself, her true self, and to stop wasting time pushing him away. She knew what she wanted – she wanted him.

"Well..not everything," she replied with a promising look, hoping he got the message.  
  
Remington shook his head and with a degree of surprise, mouthed a questioning,"No?", hoping he wasn’t reading her signals wrong, as she shook her head in confirmation. They kissed softly, then pulled apart slightly before deepening the kiss.

When they finally drew apart again, Remington suggested they have an early dinner before heading off. “After all we’re in no hurry.. are we?’ he asked with a grin, hoping she’d agree as he was keen to spend as much time with her as he could and further explore what exactly she’d meant by her last statement, especially now that it seemed ‘wild Laura’ had made her reappearance. It was the side of her that she had kept so carefully hidden since the night they had spent together _,_ which had been almost six months ago. The uninhibited, free spirit side of her which was in such contrast to her carefully controlled and focused professional side. The side of her that he found damn near irresistible and which he suspected, deep down, was the real her.

“No I guess we’re not,” Laura agreed with a dimpled smile, also not willing to head back to reality just yet.

*****************************

They headed to the restaurant at the hotel where they’d been staying for dinner. After enjoying a delicious meal, the chemistry between them fairly sizzling, they ordered another bottle of red.

As the waiter went to pour the wine into Remington’s glass he was momentarily distracted by the Maitre’d saying something to him and accidentally missed the glass and ended up pouring some on Remington’s trousers instead. Remington jumped up in shock, his expression stormy, as the waiter apologized profusely and handed him some napkins to clean himself up with. “Thankyou, thankyou,” Remington muttered hurriedly as he dismissed the waiter and Laura tried to hide a smirk.

Remington looked at her, initially annoyed that she was amused by his predicament, but then he couldn’t help the lopsided grin that crossed his face as well. And as she looked at that grin that did something to her she couldn’t quite explain, she decided to once again throw caution to the wind.

“Well I guess you better get those pants off hey?” she stated with a mischievous grin of her own as she gave him a meaningful look and he swallowed hard. Was she suggesting what he thought, what he hoped, she was?

“I ah.. guess so,” he replied slowly as he cocked an eyebrow at her. Laura nodded slowly then thought well in for a penny, in for a pound. She looked at him intently then asked, her voice husky, “Need a hand?”.

A pleasantly surprised grin crossed Remington’s face. “Yes.. yes I think I might,” he stated, his eyes holding hers intently, then not wanting to waste any time lest she changed her mind, he called for the cheque… 

************************


	9. Chapter 9

After paying the bill they quickly headed back to Remington’s room, both not wanting to waste another minute. Remington unlocked the door then held it open for Laura. “After you,” he said with a grin as she stepped inside.

Once she was inside, Laura tossed off her jacket then she sat down on the bed and gave him an expectant look as he walked towards her, his lopsided grin getting wider. “Well you better get those off hadn’t you?” she said with a mischievous gleam in her eye as she nodded towards his stained trousers, her gaze lingering on his crotch for a moment or two, making her intentions very clear.

Remington cocked an eyebrow at her directness – she certainly wasn’t mucking around and he certainly wasn’t complaining. “I thought you were going to give me a hand,” he countered cheekily as he came up to her, shrugging off his jacket as he did so and loosening his tie a little. “Hmm..so I did,” Laura agreed, her voice husky as she grabbed him by the tie and pulled him closer to her, her eyes never leaving his. Before he had a chance to register what was happening and before she had a chance to chicken out, her hands went to his belt buckle and undid it then unfastened his trousers and pulled the zip down with maddening slowness, her fingers deliberately brushing against his very evident arousal which had the intended effect on him.

“Lauraaa…,” he practically growled as she looked at him with fake coyness and replied seemingly innocently, “Yes Mr Steele?”

He shook his head at her and let out a low, throaty chuckle. “Well, well, I must say I’m glad ‘wild Laura’ has decided to make a reappearance – I’ve missed her,” he admitted as he tenderly brushed her cheek. She caught his hand in hers, touched by the affectionate gesture as her other hand began caressing him. Remington swallowed hard as she looked up at him through her eyelashes and confessed, “She’s missed you too.”

As their eyes met in that moment, they knew this was more than just physical. While their attraction to each other was undeniable, they had also grown closer over the past six months. They’d worked together, revealed parts of their pasts to each other, and come to know and trust each other more. And while they still hadn’t quite worked out exactly what their personal relationship was, there was definitely something there. Something that had brought them here. They both knew this wasn’t going to be just another one night stand – this time it meant something. And that thought both scared them and spurred them on.

Keen to touch her as well, Remington pulled her up from the bed and into his arms, his lips finding hers as they continued the kiss they’d shared in the monastery wine cellar. As they kissed Remington began unbuttoning her blouse, slipping a hand inside to palm one of her satin covered breasts as Laura couldn’t help the moan of pleasure that escaped her lips. She knew she’d been left ‘itchy’ as she’d told Bernice some months ago, when she and Mr Steele had agreed that this couldn’t happen again in order for their business arrangement to work, but she hadn’t realised just how ‘itchy’ she was until she felt him touch her like this again. His touch did something to her that no other man’s had done - he seemed to instinctively know what she wanted, what she needed.

As he continued unbuttoning her blouse she followed suit with his shirt as he tugged off his tie, keen to feel his chest and more under her hands. Remington shrugged it off, needing her touch as much as he needed to touch her. He knew he had no claim on her affections but having her ex-boyfriend turn up had thrown him off kilter him more than he had thought it would. And even though he knew now they were well and truly over, the thought of her living with Wilson, not to mention making love with him, made him feel decidedly jealous. It was not an emotion he had much experience of and certainly one he didn’t care for very much.

With those thoughts in mind he kissed her hard, his mouth taking possession of hers, demanding and receiving an equally strong response from Laura. She then trailed her kisses over his face and neck, finding that point just under his ear that was particularly sensitive, as he felt a shudder of pure desire go through him. “Good lord woman what are you doing to me?” he murmured under his breath as he pulled her even closer, his lopsided grin mirrored by her dimpled smile.

“Turning you on I hope,” she whispered, her voice low and seductive. He grinned as he pressed his lower half against her and retorted, “Well in case you didn’t notice – it’s working.”

“Well.. I might have had some idea,” she replied with a mischievous giggle. “Oh you did eh?” he stated as he cocked an eyebrow at her then asked “And am I having the same effect on you?” as he ran a hand over her hip, coming to rest on the zip of her skirt. With that, Laura pulled his head down to hers and kissed him very, very thoroughly. “Answer your question?” she asked when she eventually pulled away, her eyes holding his as he nodded, momentarily losing the power of speech.

Encouraged by that he slowly unzipped her skirt, Laura stepping out of it as it pooled at her feet. As Remington looked at her, clad only in a half open blouse and her undergarments, her hair tousled and eyes shining with desire, he thought to himself that he had never seen a more beautiful, arousing sight.

“Come here,” he beckoned softly, his eyes darkened with passion to a deep cobalt blue. Laura also took a moment to take in the sight of him – shirt off and clad only in his unzipped trousers. That strong but lean body of his had filled her dreams and fantasies since that first night they had spent together. She had struggled each day they spent together at the office or working on a case, to stop her thoughts straying to what lay underneath the expensive suits.

With that thought in mind she murmured in reply as she gave him a meaningful look, “Lose the pants.” Remington grinned at her ‘take charge’ approach as he did as he was told, kicking his trousers aside as they hit the floor. Laura flashed him a cheeky dimpled smile as her gaze travelled southward to his briefs, the effect she was having on him clearly evident. “And those,” she nodded as he replied just as cheekily, “I will if you will.”

Laura gave him a challenging look as she pulled her underwear down as he did the same, both enjoying the view. Remington then pushed her blouse off and reached around to undo her bra, then slowly pushed the straps down, his eyes never leaving hers as he revealed her breasts. She involuntarily gasped as he tossed her bra aside then gently ran a hand over one of her breasts then the other. During their first night together, while not exactly a rushed affair, he hadn’t really taken as much time as he would have liked to explore her fully – to kiss the smattering of freckles that adorned her shoulders and chest, to run a hand along her shapely legs, to find every sensitive spot on her body and slowly fan the flame of desire in her until she begged for it to be quenched. But now he thought to himself, they had all the time in the world, as he proceeded to take advantage of that fact.

Laura’s ‘flame of desire’ was already burning full force though and as she looked at him it only further fanned it. Her eyes travelled down from his gorgeous blue eyes that seemed to pierce her very soul, to his full, luscious lips that she felt an overwhelming need to kiss. Then further down to his lean torso, following the trail of hair down to the proof of his arousal as she couldn’t help her smile getting a bit wider. He was by far the most gorgeous specimen of manhood she had ever laid eyes on and she had waited long enough to be with him like this again. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, he was like a magnet constantly drawing her to him and like a moth to a flame, in that moment she felt powerless to resist him and part of her certainly didn’t want to.

Her hands mirrored his as she ran her fingers through the hair on his chest then lower, evoking a groan of pleasure from him. As her hand travelled even lower he took her by surprise somewhat when he grabbed her hand in his and instead brought it up to his mouth and kissed it, suspecting that as aroused as he was, if she touched him there it was likely to be all over much before he wanted it to be.

In reply to her questioning look he quipped with a mischievous lopsided grin, “Ladies first – I am a gentleman after all.” Before she had a chance to argue, not that she really wanted to but he knew how much she liked to be in control and he wanted to make her lose control, he slowly ran a hand over her body as his kisses followed suit, backing her up to the bed as he did so.

When her knees hit the back of the bed Laura found herself falling back onto it, pulling Remington down with her, the two of them laughing as they fell together in a heap. As Laura caught her breath, she couldn’t help thinking that she’d never had this much fun being with a man – it just felt so natural. Whether they were working on a case together with him coming up with yet another movie reference, or stealing a romantic moment here and there, or even like this, in the midst of a passionate encounter -as much as he infuriated her at times, he could always bring a smile to her face.

“Now – where were we?” he asked with a devillish wiggle of his eyebrows as he placed a hand between her legs and added, “About here I think wasn’t it?”

“Yes I think so,” Laura sighed as he worked his magic on her. As ‘itchy’ as she already was, it didn’t take long for him to bring her to the brink. “I’m close..” she confessed, her breath ragged, wanting to share the moment with him. “I know,” he whispered back with a smile, as he trailed his kisses down her body, his eyes holding hers as he reached her most sensitive spot. Laura arched against him as he took her over the edge, finally allowing herself to completely let go in a way she had never been able to with another man.

She was still coming down from her high when Remington, unable to resist any longer after watching her hit the heights of pleasure, finally joined his body with hers. Laura wrapped her legs around him, wanting to take him there as well. He began moving slowly but before too long that wasn’t enough for either of them, Laura feeling herself climbing the heights again with him. And as Remington felt Laura start to shatter around him that was enough to take him over the edge as well, her name escaping his lips as he lost himself in her.

And in that moment, as their eyes met, they both felt that undeniable connection again as they had felt the first time they had made love, but now they both knew it was different. It hit Remington like a lightning bolt – he loved this wonderful, intriguing, often infuriating but always beguiling woman. She had worked her way under his skin and into his heart without him even realizing> Just like he had found in the monastery walls the other night, she had found a soft spot in defenses, something no other woman had ever been able to do. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words yet but he certainly felt them.

As was his way, he decided to instead show her by his actions the depth of his feelings for her as he rolled over and pulled her into his arms as they basked in the afterglow together. Laura rested her head on his chest, again feeling the security of being wrapped in his arms, where she had to admit she felt safer than she had than in any other man’s. She knew it was crazy - she knew nothing about him really, other than his previous ‘occupation’ – she didn’t even know his name for God’s sake! But then she realised that wasn’t exactly true - she did know some things about him. She knew he had a good heart and was always willing to stick up for the underdog, she knew he was a loyal friend after witnessing how he had reacted when his old friend Wallace had been killed. And she knew he accepted her, all of her, no questions asked. And she knew she was falling in love with him, despite her better judgement.

Both of them found these thoughts and emotions threatening to overwhelm them a bit, so in an effort to lighten things a little Remington chuckled, “I guess I owe that waiter a generous tip for spilling that wine on me eh?”. Laura looked up at him and laughed as well, glad for the momentary distraction from her feelings, “I guess so,” she agreed.

She knew she should probably go back to her own room and that they probably should head back to LA. But that would mean going back to reality and she wasn’t quite ready to do that yet, because that would mean having to deal with..this and how it would impact their arrangement. So for the moment Laura let herself relax in his arms, deciding she could worry about all that in the morning….

THE END


End file.
